Confusion Surrounds Jai Paul Album Release

It was never going to be that easy, was it? Following three years of fervent speculation about how and when Jai Paul would follow up his two amazing singles, "BTSTU" and "Jasmine", what purported to be the XL Recordings artist's debut album appeared on Bandcamp on Saturday night, comprising 16 untitled tracks (among them the aforementioned singles and a cover of Jennifer Paige's "Crush"). Now, the album has been removed from Bandcamp.

"To confirm: demos on bandcamp were not uploaded by me, this is not my debut album. Please don't buy. Statement to follow later. Thanks, Jai"

Journalist Owen Myers tweets that he received an email from Jai, in which the singer/producer writes, "I will be releasing a statement later today about the illegal leak. I have not released a new record," and "This is an unofficial release. Official releases are handled by XL." His statement is apparently due at 3 p.m. GMT (10 a.m. EST).

Rumors are afoot that Jai had his laptop stolen, leading to the leak of the album. Apparently, some people have already started to receive refunds from Bandcamp. (I bought the record and have not had one yet.)

But it doesn't all quite add up.

Shortly after the album appeared, Imran Ahmed, head of A&R at XL, tweeted, "Surprise!" Not the expectedly angry words of a man whose most sought-after signing just dumped his debut album online for free without warning. And Grandstand PR, who work with XL, retweeted a Tweet from Paul Epworth saying "Thanks to Jai Paul for finally sharing his wonderful album with the world."

As an intrepid reporter at blog Crack in the Road points out, anyone who bought the record from Bandcamp on Sunday morning would have received a receipt from a Paypal account linked to an email address that has connections to many of Jai's social media profiles.

Representatives from XL have not responded to requests for clarification.